Elephant Journal: The Mindful Life With Waylon

In this week’s Mindful Monday video & podcast, Waylon shares a simple Buddhist practice that you can do anywhere, anytime. " One of the most wonderful Buddhist instructions for how to become present and available, open, joyful, and genuine, in your life is as simple as this: any time of the day, particularly if you're having a hard time, if you're feeling speedy, if you're feeling exhausted, look out your window. Go outside if you can. Then..." ~ Waylon Lewis  Subscribe to get our full conversations weekly.

Waylon chats with Ellie Laks of the beloved animal sanctuaries known as The Gentle Barn, this time about her new book: “Cow Hug Therapy.” Subscribe to get our full conversations weekly.

Waylon speaks about the role of journalism as the pursuit of truth, the trap of "fake news," and how we can all develop our antenna for bullsh*t (including our own) if we pause to examine our sources of "facts."  "Journalism is simply the search for truth, which makes it similar to science. If you're interested in journalism—whether you're liberal or conservative—you're interested in facts, and you're open to changing your mind and opening your mind, and being proven wrong." ~ Waylon Lewis Subscribe to get our full conversations weekly.

In this week’s Mindful Monday video & podcast, Waylon talks about one thing we can do—every day—to transform our lives for the better.  "The notion of duty, which we talk a lot about in the military realm or public service, or say in my Buddhist upbringing...it's a very un-American word from the point of view of 'we Americans cherish our freedom or independence.' The way we generally think of it in America or write about it is: my freedom is separate from yours. So it's a sort of independent freedom, not interdependent, not co-dependent, not cooperative. It's all about 'me' and 'my freedom.' That's an interesting notion when you think about the notion of duty. It would seem to be a contradiction. So, what is our duty as human beings? I introduced this as the one daily reminder that if you do it every day, it'll transform your entire life.  I don't think that's an exaggeration. In the Buddhist teachings, they talk about vision or view, or Christians may think of it as mission. What is our mission in life?"

Waylon meets his all-time favorite Elephant Journal writer, Lynn Shattuck, for the first time. They talk about writing, finding your voice as a writer, how to write about your life in a cathartic, genuine, way and Lynn's thread through much of her writing: the loss of a beloved sibling. "I was really fortunate. [Elephant] felt like a safe home for my writing. I felt welcomed from the beginning by the editors, and it was a cozy connection." ~ Lynn Shattuck Read Lynn's writing on Elephant Journal: https://www.elephantjournal.com/profile/lynn-shattuck/ Subscribe to get our full conversations weekly: https://bit.ly/WTTSSubscribe

Waylon talks about how, as human being and as a writer, we can uncover our voices. Hint: it’s not as impossible as it feels. “Ironically, simply getting present with yourself and out of your own thoughts will enable you to find the words that are genuine and helpful to others.” ~ Waylon Lewis Learn more about Elephant Academy's Find your Voice course: https://bit.ly/FindYourVoiceFall2024 Subscribe to get our full conversations weekly: https://elephantjournal.com/videos

Waylon shares a little (big) way we can thank mothers and all good parents everywhere: “I want to do a video in honor of Mother’s Day and of wonderful parents everywhere, including fathers. But particularly single parents, and particularly single mothers, and particularly my mom, who is a single mom. One of the gifts of society—or lack or lack of gift—can be supporting single parents..” ~ Waylon Lewis Subscribe to get our full conversations weekly.

In this week’s Mindful Monday video & podcast, Waylon talks politics. "Stop covering politics," some of our dear readers cry every time we post something relephant. Look: politics are life. Equal rights, empathy, fair economy, healthcare. We can't ignore what's happening, and you shouldn't either. ~ Waylon Subscribe to get our full conversations weekly.

Waylon shares with readers one simple, quick reminder about the act of being vulnerable. “Vulnerability is not weakness. It’s true strength—if it’s genuine, not mere emotionalism. ~ Waylon Lewis  >> Read more about emotionalism: Emotionalism Isn’t Cool. >> Curious about Elephant Academy and what we teach? What we offer is hard to explain in a handful of words without them turning into word soup, but it’s got a little something for everyone out there on the path of discovering their passion, finding their voice, and, yes, embracing their vulnerability. Find out more here.  Subscribe to get our full conversations weekly.

Waylon encourages us to honor Earth Day every day, not just one day a year. Giving a care for our one and only planet is not about being perfect, or being a goody-two-shoes, but about living a mindful life and ensuring future generations can as well. "Ultimately, like any kind of love, any kind of open heart, caring is ultimately our only conduit or connection to a meaningful life—even if sometimes caring means we're sad. Let's try to actually honor Earth Day and actually honor equity and actually honor and address our climate crisis in a meaningful way." ~ Waylon Lewis  Subscribe to get our full conversations weekly.

Waylon talks with long-time friend Sue Van Raes about mindful eating, staying in the present moment, traveling, our personal food stories, and just eating the nachos.  Her new book, “Food and Freedom,” is out now! "We can look back at our lives, look back at our stories...and we all have our food story. But we also have many other stories that play into how we relate to food. So we can look back and investigate...   ...and then just eat the nachos! Recognizing what's happening in the moment, right? Just simple recognition.   What's so important to consider is that if we decide to eat nachos...eat nachos.    Just fully be there with them. Enjoy the nachos. What happens so much is that we might go and do that thing that's a little bit indulgent or feels really pleasure-based, but then because we're checked out, we're not even enjoying it." ~ Sue Van Raes Subscribe to get our full conversations weekly.

Waylon discusses how to approach a difficult situation and gives examples from his own life, hoping that they'll connect with you and your life and that this here little podcast can be of some small benefit to your dear heart. Subscribe to get our full conversations weekly.

In the latest episode of Elephant's long-running, award-winning podcast and video series Walk the Talk Show with Waylon Lewis, Waylon meets Dain Heer. They speak about (toxic, unhealthy, unkind and genuine, grounded, grownup) masculinity, unrealistic expectations, parenting—about what it means to be a man in today's society.  Subscribe to get our full conversations weekly.

In this week’s Mindful Monday video & podcast, Waylon asks our Elephant Journal community to pick a page in his book “It’s Never too Late to Fall in Love with your Life.” A reader picked Chapter 10, and Waylon does an impromptu reading. “If you fill every moment of your day, your brain will burn out. If you allow gaps, your heart will flourish..” ~ Waylon Lewis, Chapter 10: “It’s Never too Late to Fall in Love with your Life.” Get Waylon's two books. They make great eco gifts and mindful, hopefully-life-changing reads.

“This is the first generation where we actually know we’re destroying the future for all future generations.” ~ Waylon Lewis  Waylon talks about what, environmentally, he wishes he had understood more clearly 10 – 20 years ago. Plastic sucks: “Yet 95% of my own dear friends still waste single-use and fast-fashion plastic every single day.” Caring is difficult…because we risk feeling sad or even despondent…but when we lean into caring it leads to joy, love, empathy, activism, and positive change. Subscribe to get our full conversations weekly.

Waylon asks our Elephant Journal community to pick a page in his book "It’s Never too Late to Fall in Love with your Life." A reader picked Chapter 18, and Waylon does an impromptu reading.  "Tonglen, the Buddhist meditation practice of 'sending and taking,' gives us a way to work with our (or others’) anger, suffering, stress, or heartbreak. Simple yet counter-intuitive, this meditation reverses the flow of ego, easing our silly crazy mopey neurosis and engendering compassion." ~ Waylon Lewis, Chapter 18: "It’s Never too Late to Fall in Love with your Life." Get Waylon's two books. They make great eco gifts and mindful, hopefully-life-changing reads.

Waylon addresses comments Readers have made about Elephant’s coverage of the Israel-Palestine war crimes with three points. “I am not the voice of Elephant. I am the steward of Elephant and you can write on Elephant anytime. Why is that important? Because there are so many people who know so much more than me. Do we need to hear from me or from Elephant Journal about Palestine? No. The world is not crying for Elephant’s voice on Palestine. But we do need to hear from you, and we are a community here to platform you, with respectful dialogue.” ~ Waylon Lewis  Subscribe to get our full conversations weekly.

In this week’s Mindful Monday video & podcast, Waylon asks questions of our Elephant Journal community.  "Hey friends, this is Waylon. I am the founder of Elephant. Normally I'll talk about something mindful, something in the world, something helpful that's of good value to you and your heart and in your daily life. But today I want to try something a little different. I want to touch in with you about Elephant." ~ Waylon Lewis  How long have you read Elephant? What's your favorite thing about Elephant? What would you like to see that you're not getting? Do you listen to Walk the Talk Show? Do you know that you can write on Elephant? Do you subscribe? Do you have the iPhone app? Subscribe to get our full conversations weekly.

In the latest episode of Walk the Talk Show with Waylon Lewis, Waylon features Julie and Samantha from Cats Aren’t Trophies Colorado. Learn more about CATs and their ballot initiative on their website, here.  Editor’s Note: Lotttts of good comments and discussion. A few mean weak ones, but mostly great dialogues between folks who may not agree, and mutual learning. Thank you all! ~ Waylon Lewis Subscribe to get our full conversations weekly.

In this week’s Mindful Monday video & podcast, Waylon talks about Elephant Journal and explains what the heck we're doing here, and why. Subscribe to get our full conversations weekly.